Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Last weekend, Schwartz & I made our way out to Hespeler to visit Zack at The Vault. He'd just recently moved to his larger location and was still rearranging and resorting when we arrived. The new digs are a huge improvement over his last dwelling and now has way more room to display his wares. And wares there are a plenty!

Come on in!

VHS Galore!

For all the bi-lingual spirits...

There is even a twenty-odd seat theatre in the back which Zack hopes to have set up by the summer. We spent a good hour shooting the shit before coming away with some good booty.

Linnea Quigley. Say no more!

Caroline Munro. Say no more!

One of my fave covers of all time!

Haven't seen this in 25 years. Due for a rewatch!

Half slasher/half teen sex comedy, I love this movie.

It's good to see that despite the current state of affairs, Zack - as well as Luis from Suspect and Daniel at Eyesore - are still surviving. The world would be a lesser place without guys like them in my opinion.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Here's one from my childhood. This is the trailer for Alvin Rakoff's 1980 flick Death Ship.

I believe I originally caught this on late night television. If I was making a master list of scenes that haunted my childhood, that blood shower scene would probably make the top ten. Now that I think about it, a good number of scenes at the top of the pile involve water. But I've crossed that sea before.

It's been at least thirty years since I've seen Death Ship last, so I have no idea if it still holds up, but I wager it is still better than Dark Castle's 2002 attempt to rip it off.

Monday, April 28, 2014

I totally forgot to include this video in with my news post yesterday. Here's a bad ass cover of Black Sabbath's song Black Sabbath by the metal band Gonga. The two things that make this extra special are the guest vocalist is none other than Portishead's Beth Gibbons and the song is synced up nicely with Mario Bava's 1963 horror film of the same name. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

A bunch of trailers hit the web this week. Let's start with the most important one.

[REC]4 continues on where the second film left off - the third film Genesis actually took place in tandem with the first two in regards to timeline - with Ángela (Manuela Velasco) escaping from the tenement building and put under quarantine. As we can see, things go from bad to worse. [REC]4 will be screening at Sitges this October, but fingers crossed it plays over here sooner.

The second is the trailer for the Canadian comedy horror WolfCop, a film that's been tearing up my social media feeds for the last few weeks.

I have to admit this looks of a lot higher quality than I was expecting. To say their advertising campaign is “aggressive” would be an understatement, so it's nice to see that director Lowell Dean & company put the cash they received from CineCoup and their Indiegogo campaign to good use and getting the word out there.

The third trailer, well...

This is my thought process during the above trailer.

“Hey, that British chick is sexy. Oh, another found footage movie. Good location though. So, it's The Descent in the Catacombs, when are the monsters gonna show up? Oh, wait no, it's Event Horizon in the Catacombs. With CG.”

Hurm. In the space of the two minutes of that trailer, they literally lifted two sequences from Neil Marshall's quintessential film verbatim. It is apparent The Dowdle Brothers know the found footage genre - after such films as Quarantine and The Poughkeepsie Tapes - but talk about not putting your best foot forward. Oh well, at least the poster is bad ass.

Bringing Back The Gore.

Mention the name “Guinea Pig” to any self respecting gorehound and his ears will perk up. Produced in Japan from 1985 to 1988, the six-part series was so infamous it even caught the attention of the FBI as possible snuff. Well, almost twenty years later, it was announced this week via Fangoria that Stephen Biro, the man responsible for bringing the series to US DVD, will be producing an American equivalent.

The first entry, entitled Bouquet of Guts & Gore will be directed by Biro, and feature effects from Marcus Koch. No word on a release date yet, but keep your eyes peeled, so to speak. For the full press release, click here.

Perturbated.

I just wanted to pass along this link I found in my Facebook feed this morning. It is a link to the album Terror 404 from James “Perturbator” Kent. If you like retro film score synth, then press play on this.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

I was wondering when this video was going to surface. This was my first interview, so that's why I appear a little stiff. Mainly, it just reminds me how fun that weekend was, and gets me geared up for the third installment this November.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Just before closing down for the season, the inhabitants of a vacation island find themselves under attack by a roving band of wild dogs.

So, as I mentioned before, I picked up a VHS copy of this based on the fact it was directed by Robert Clouse, and he did not disappoint. I've always loved a good animals attack yarn and this is a solid example to be sure. I don't know what it is about Clouse, but he had an innate talent to get menacing performances out of his canine subjects. Five years before he would have the brilliant idea to dress up Dachshunds as giant rats for Deadly Eyes, he let this meaner looking group loose on Seal Island. Seriously, the pack's “leader” is a mongrel that looks so menacing, I felt like it may lunge for the cameraman's throat at any moment. While cinema icon Cujo was scary mainly because of his size, this thing just conveys absolute rage.

I wish I could find more about the making of this film online because I'd like to know more about working with the dogs. There were so many “how did they get them to do that” moments - especially one at the very end where the dog clearly wasn't having a good time - that I felt compelled to sit through the credits to verify the Humane Society was involved.

Apart from that, the film has Joe Don Baker. Before he was playing minor characters in James Bond films, he was a pretty big deal. In the seventies, he had memorable starring roles in Walking Tall and Mitchell before taking on The Pack.

Joe Don Baker stars in The Pack.

In the true thriller fashion, the film is rife with characters that you are pulling for (like Baker) and one's that you can't wait to see get ripped to shreds.

Paul Willson as Tommy "Quit leanin' on me!" Dodge.

I mean this guy above is a waste of space. His dad spends the first act trying to hook him up with a bubbly blonde and the first chance he gets, Tommy throws her to the wolves - literally! The film does have its share of boneheaded moments, but I never once didn't believe the threat. Did I mention that the leader looked mean as shit?

Just in case it wasn't clear.

I don't think The Pack ever got released on DVD, but from what I understand it is available through Warner Bros. archive collection. I recommend this, as it fits nicely in with other second-tier seventies pedigree such as Grizzly, Piranha and Kingdom of the Spiders.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

It was announced this week that my friend Serena Whitney, in collaboration with Justin McConnell of Unstable Ground, have optioned the rights to the 1990 novel, Kane by Douglas Borton. Genre veterans Adam Mason (Blood River, Devil's Chair) & George Mihalka (My Bloody Valentine) are on board as consulting producers, as well as Avi Federgreen (Still Mine).

It's always to great to see your friends realize their dreams, and this has some great potential. Kane tells the story of a lone traveller who comes to the small town of Tuskett with one goal in mind - kill everyone of its twenty-three inhabitants!

For the original press release from The Hollywood Reporter, click here.

Giallo Mondo.

Here below, is the trailer for the Argentinian love-letter to the giallo, Sonno Profondo.

It is gorgeous to be sure, but that narration makes it feel like it is supposed to be a parody, rather than an emulation. That is unless it is supposed to be a parody... In that case, good job! Sonno Profondo aka Deep Sleep screened at last year's Sitges Film Festival in Spain.

I saw this last year at TIFF and I still maintain it to be an authentic rendition of the subgenre. If you are at all a fan of the works of Deodato and Lenzi, this is a must watch. The tribe they used in the film are fantastic and there are some top notch set pieces that won't disappoint the gorehounds.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

That last one I looked at because I'd previously seen the poster and thought it was cool. When I read the back and saw Robert “Deadly Eyes” Clouse wrote and directed it, I knew it must be mine. I actually watched it last night, and it's pretty ace. Perhaps I'll review it, if laziness permits.

Also, I picked up a couple of DVD's from Suspect Video that were absolutely irresistible.

I've wanted to see the former since it played Fantasia a few years back, and the latter stars the late Nelson de la Rosa, the little guy from The Island of Dr. Moreau remake. You know, the “Look! Look at him!” guy!

Monday, April 14, 2014

Last weekend was the 4th edition of the annual Shock Stock weekend in London, Ontario.

It was kind of bittersweet this year, as I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would've liked. That, and the fact I boneheadedly forgot to submit Lively to their short film showcase, kind of put a damper on my full enjoyment of the event.

But while I was there on the Saturday, it was super fun times. They had a solid line-up of interesting guests - once again the Vagrancy boys found celebrities that you just don't see at the regular convention events - of which I met two.

First up was Felissa Rose, who played the iconic character of Angela in Sleepaway Camp. She looked fantastic and her Q&A was pretty great. She absolutely beamed sincerity and humility when speaking of the people that continue to support the film, even to this day. She even went so far as to say that she hates the word “fan”, as she considers those people her friends. As if to prove her point, a self professed “#1 fan” that she met ten years ago ended up becoming her husband.

Felissa Rose makes “the face”.

A lot of the questions during the Q&A were obviously about the last scene in the movie. Her parents apparently never had any reservations about the subject matter, and Felissa herself, then thirteen, just thought it would be cool to hang out a summer camp and meet boys. I thought the story about how she first watched the movie with her entire ninth grade class was pretty interesting. I would've thought she'd have been teased incessantly about that ending, but apparently the only grief she received from the bitchier girls in the class was that she was showing off, in a look-at-me-I'm-a-big-movie-star kind of way.

It was surreal seeing him in person, considering all the sick and depraved deeds I'd seen him commit onscreen. However, it was a huge relief to see that he was actually a soft-spoken and proper English gentleman. And then he proceeded to rape a chair...

Laurence R. Harvey.

Leading up to that though, were some other juicy tidbits that Harvey started his career playing characters on children's television in the UK, as well his upcoming projects with Astron 6 and the Soska Sisters.

As for the show, there was the usual plethora of vendors and attractions. It's funny, I know so many people there now that I find myself catching up and networking most of the day that I forget to take more pics. Here's what I did snap though.

The great guys at Black Fawn Films were on hand once again, as well. It seems their booth gets bigger every year. Pretty soon, they'll have so many titles out, they won't have room to display all the posters. Currently, Black Fawn has two main projects on the go...

Both star Ryan Barrett - who coincidentally played the title character in Lively - with one, The Drownsman now finished and the other The Demolisher going to camera late this week. I actually got to see the upcoming trailer for The Drownsman and it looks just as slick as anything being put out by the studios today. The difference is, these guys spend a fraction of a Hollywood budget and actually seem to give a shit about their product. I wish them all the luck in the world.

And Shock Stock wouldn't be complete without a hefty helping of VHS. There were multiple vendors, the most prominent of which being my buddy Zack at The Vault. He even had a snazzy new sign!

So, like I said. A regrettably abbreviated account of the event this year, but hopefully you get the idea. I definitely need to plan more smartly for next year.